Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company

The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company was established in 1891 as a logging and water transportation company in California. A 45-mile cedar flume was built to transport lumber from Shaver Lake to the finishing mill in Clovis.[1]: 12–15  The company changed its name to the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company in 1908, and over the course of its 21-year lifespan, cut an average of 25 million board feet of lumber each year. However, in 1912, the company was sold and ceased all operations after a storm destroyed 2 miles (3.2 km) of the flume. In 1919, Southern California Edison Company bought most of the Shaver property for the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.[1]: 15 

History

The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company was established in 1891 by a group of local business owners and Michigan lumbermen, C.B. Shaver and Lewis Swift.[2] The company built a dam across Stevenson Creek to form Shaver Lake, which served as both a storage pond for logs and the source of water for the flume. A steam-powered sawmill was also erected near the lake and a 45 miles (72 km) long V-shaped cedar flume was built to transport lumber from Shaver to the finishing mill in Clovis.[1]: 12–15 

Flume terminal in Clovis, 1925.

The flume, designed by John Eastwood, the first city engineer of Fresno, was made of cedar planks and was 16 feet (4.9 m) long, 16 inches wide, and 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) thick.[3] It was assembled in units called boxes, with 320 boxes equaling 1 mile (1.6 km). The flume dropped 4,900 feet (1,500 m) feet, or 27.5 feet (8.4 m) per mile, from an elevation of 5,275 feet (1,608 m) feet above sea level at Shaver Lake to Clovis. The total project cost was $270,000. Logging started in 1894 using ox-drawn wagons and steam engines, with an estimated 200,000 board feet (470 m3) of rough lumber arriving in Clovis daily at peak production.[3]

Initially, the flume was intended to transport both lumber and water, but legal disputes over the use of water from the San Joaquin River led to a temporary injunction that only allowed the company to float lumber in the v-flume.[4]

A standard gauge logging railroad known as the Shaver Lake Railroad was built in 1901 to haul timber from the woods.[5]

Over the course of its 21-year lifespan, the company cut an average of 250,000,000 board feet (590,000 m3) of lumber each year, employing up to 400 men in Clovis during its most productive years.

Legacy

In 1908, the company changed its name to the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company to reflect its focus on lumber production. However, in 1912, the remaining stockholders sold the company to Ira Bennett, who soon found himself in financial trouble after a storm destroyed 2 miles (3.2 km) of the flume. Bennett ceased all logging operations soon after. The success of the Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company, along with the neighboring Madera Sugar Pine Company, demonstrated the effectiveness of v-flumes for lumber transportation. In 1919, Southern California Edison Company purchased most of the Shaver property for its Big Creek hydroelectric project and, in 1927, built a new dam that greatly expanded Shaver Lake.[1]: 12–15 

References
  1. Johnston, Hank (1997). The Whistles Blow No More. Stauffer Publishing. ISBN 0-87046-067-6.
  2. "The Fresno Flume and Lumber Company was the successor to C.B. Shaver's original Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company". The Huntigton. The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  3. Bos, Peg (July 10, 2018). "Let's Talk Clovis: Heroic pioneers and their amazing flume". The Clovis Roundup. Clovis, California. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  4. "A Big Irrigation Case Compromised". Merced County Sun. Merced, California. October 9, 1903. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  5. "The Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company is building a twelve-mile railroad from Shaver back into the timberland, to be used in hauling timber". Morning Tribune. San Luis Obispo County, California. October 25, 1901. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
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